Link Building as Second Phase SEO

Link Building SEO for Toledo, Ohio

SEO, Keywords and Link Building

Search Engine Optimization is a gigantic, time-consuming and crucially important project for any and every business. The most important thing about SEO is content. Content, they say, is king. But no matter how good your content, it won't go anywhere without an SEO-smart keyword strategy. But keyword strategies, in turn, will carry further when propelled by a powerful link building campaign.

Ultimately, SEO is organized beneath two subheads: relevance and importance.
Relevance simply means that the content of your site matches the interest of the searcher. If Sally conducts a keyword search for 'Dog collars,' she doesn't want to end up on a site about hot dogs. Search engines pride themselves on finding the most relevant information for your searches. SEO is the process of making your site more relevant to the keyword searches that are most related to your website. Relevance is arrived at by the implementation of a smart keyword strategy.

SEO, Link Building, Footnotes and Friends

Importance is another way of saying popularity. And popularity is largely judged by the number of links pointing at your website from other sites. But this is not kiss-the-popular-girl high school electioneering. Link building for SEO is more sophisticated than that.

When search engines were just getting started, their engineers wondered how scientists knew which scholarly articles were most important? The answer: follow the footnotes. If a scholarly article was frequently and heavily footnoted in other reputable publications, it was seen as important. An abundance of footnotes gave strong indications on influence.

Link building is the process of getting your website footnoted on the Internet. But note that phrase, "other reputable publications." Imagine you wrote an article for the Journal of the American Medical Association. Would it mean much to other doctors if some kid referenced it on his MySpace page? Search engines like Google care which websites are in your peer group, and the more reputable your peers (those sites linking to you), the more helpful their links. Link building for SEO is the process of collecting footnotes; Link building for SEO is the process of making the right friends.

Link building has carry-over benefits, as well. Want to jump start your Toledo, Ohio B2B connections? Why not ask another Toledo business for a link?

Link Building as an SEO Challenge: Making Friends Isn't Easy

Link building is probably the most difficult part of any SEO campaign. You want to collect links from the most reputable sites within your peer group, but this is easier said than done. The job of your SEO campaign is to identify ways for you to amass a consistent stream of links, and from the sort of sites search engines will think of as good friends. This might start with other Toledo area businesses, but it will quickly grow beyond.

Smart SEO will engage in a multi-tiered and aggressive link building strategy--link building is not a passive activity. Link building is thoughtful, deliberate and proactive pursuit of site recognition. It's importance to a winning SEO strategy could not be overstated.

SEO is, once again, ultimately organized around the twin concerns of relevance and importance. SEO is about great keyword content and peer group formation through link building.